Rep. Veasey Statement on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act of 2016

Washington, D.C. — Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, member of the House Armed Services Committee, released the following statement after voting against H.R. 2029, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016:

"I respect the amount of work and effort that the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee put into crafting their bill for Fiscal Year 2016. There is no higher calling and obligation for Congress than to fully fund the Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides specialized care for our nation's service men and women.

While I respect the efforts that were put into crafting this bill, I'm afraid that the sequester budget caps imposed by Republicans have prevented us from funding this bill at the level that our veterans rightfully deserve. Even Republicans seem to acknowledge that these sequester budget caps are too severe by improperly using the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account. That account is supposed to be used for overseas military operations.

I support the bill's prioritization of eliminating the VA claims backlog and medical research, but I strongly oppose the $1.4 billion reduction for VA programs and the $1.2 billion reduction from President Obama's budget request for Military Construction, a reduction by half of the President's VA construction request. I share the concerns expressed by President Obama and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) that this bill is funded inadequately. The VFW states that this bill is ‘bad for veterans,' the Disabled American Veterans said this bill is ‘unconscionable, outrageous,' and the American Legion states that it is ‘unacceptable.' Our veterans deserve better than this bill and it is Congress' obligation to provide it for them."